When I said something to Mr. Pierce about not wishing to interfere
with the system, he answered, “Oh, Miss Towne, we have no systems here.” He
spoke playfully, but I think there is truth in it. The teachers who came down
here with us have not yet got to work and are going about, not knowing their
destination. When we came, Mr. Pierce sent us here to Mrs. Forbes without any
invitation from her and has left us here since without knowing her wishes about
it. She has nothing to do with the Commission and should not be troubled with
its affairs, which makes it uncomfortable for Mr. Philbrick and me. . . .
There has been a little rebellion upon Mr. Philbrick's
plantation (the old Coffin plantation).1 Two men, one upon each
estate, refuse to work the four hours a day they are required to give to the
cotton, but insist upon cultivating their own cornpatch only. They threaten, if
unprovided with food, to break into the corn-house. One man drew his knife upon
his driver, but crouched as soon as Mr. Philbrick laid his hand upon his
shoulder. Mr. Philbrick came to Beaufort and has taken back a corporal and two
soldiers to arrest and guard these men for a few days. The negroes, Mr.
Philbrick says, are docile generally and require the positive ordering that
children of five or ten years of age require, but are far more afraid of any
white man than of their drivers.
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1 At the eastern end of St. Helena Island.
Rupert Sargent Holland, Editor, Letters and Diary of
Laura M. Towne: Written from the Sea Islands of South Carolina 1862-1864,
p. 9
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